I am hoping someone out there can give me a little bit of advice. I was banded 07/18 and I am down roughly 40 pounds give or take...(I continue to torture myself daily on the scale). My probem is PB'ing. I recognized I was in the "soft food" mode and have over the last few days made an effort not to eat soft food as to maximize the effectivness of the band. Well, I cant seem to tolerate alot without Pb'ing. I tried some steak tonight....very moist, cooked rare...and even had something to dip it in and still after my third bite brought it all back up. I chewed till it was mush! I guess this is why I have been eating softer/mushy stage type food...like egg salad, tuna salad, Soups, chili and the like, usually with a few crackers. I dont generally have a problem with salad and/or veggies, if I go slow. I have only had one fill (1.7cc's) and I am not sure if I should even have another one if I am not able to eat "regular" food now. I guess my concern is, if I cant keep down steak, chicken and other "solid" Proteins, is it sabotage to be eating the softer high Protein foods, or is it I am adjusting my eating habits accordingly....due to the band? I still am eating less of the softer foods than I would have pre-band. I would like to be able to eat a small peice of steak or chicken some day....but I also want to play by the rules so to speak to maximize my weight loss. Any insight someone might have would be welcomed. Thanks.....Joann P.S. 12 of these 40 were pre-op....but I still count em!

Dr. Valin

07/15/03

307/267/170

I kept Pbing all the way up to the first fill. After having my first fill I suddenly stop doing that and I am now able to eat solid food without it being stuck.

Leo, wow, that's really interesting! I haven't had a single episode so far. I wonder what makes the difference?

Joanne, how long after eating a bite of steak would it come back up? My thought is to try eating one bite and waiting, say, two or three minutes before the next one.

Having never had a PB I'm certainly not the voice of experience. Can you feel the bites settle? That's a weird question, but I think I can tell when something has gotten out of my esophagus (I guess) and into my stomach.

Maybe you're trying too much at one sitting? Were you eating anything else along with the steak? I'm sure I am naive, but I can't imagine 3 bites of something being too much...I guess my time will come, though.

Try mixing food in your bites. I mean, take a bit of salad with the meat, chew to a pulp, then swallow. Mixing foods seems to help things go down and stay there.

In my opinion, you should be able to eat at least some dense Proteins. If you're constantly having to rely on mushy foods, I believe it's possible that you have too much restriction.

You might try even smaller bites and chew even more. If you still can't get something more solid down at that point, then you might need to consider a very slight unfill.

Of course, your restriction could lossen up a bit as you lose weight, but that could take months.

Why do I feel like this probably didn't help you at all? {sigh} Sorry!

Tonia

My doc told me to stay away from steak and any red meats for at least 6 months. It is too hard he explained. I have some restriction now, no fills yet. I am eating more than I would like but a lot less than before.

18 days post op, down 20 lbs.:-)

Joann,

I was also banded by Dr. Valin. It was in April and I had a 1.7 cc fill at about 6 weeks post op. I had some PB'ing, but not every meal. I really stuck to solid Proteins after about 3 to 4 days of liquid and mush after my fill, but I was definitely able to get back to eating 3 ounces of meat, etc. On my second fill, I had a much harder time and was Pb'ing whenever I had solids (or it would take me 3 hours to eat very little (1 to 2 ounces)). I called Debbie and had some of the fill taken out and it made a huge difference. We all have to be able to live with the band, so I suggest you give Debbie a call and see what she thinks. I think you may want to have .1 or .2 cc's taken out (that's all it would take to feel much better and prevent soft food syndrome). Good luck.

Originally posted by Alexandra

Leo, wow, that's really interesting! I haven't had a single episode so far. I wonder what makes the difference?

Maybe the fill shifted my band just a little bit so food doesn't get stuck in the stoma as easily. But thats just my guess lols

I am going through the same thing. I just got my second fill and im at 2.2 cc's. I can't eat much Protein anymore it gets stuck and hurts so i pb to get rid of it. I have no problem with mac and cheese though but couldn't eat top ramen. It's still different every day. One day i can eat the next day i can't. I think it's just our bodies adjusting to everything and sometimes our body tells us we don't need to be eating and others I still feel the need to eat whatever is in front of me. It's definately weird but such a treat from how things used to be. Great weight loss by the way. Your doing amazing. Im down 80 pounds since february but you've got me beat if you keep up this rate... Way to go...

Cindy